


Giving New Meanings

by she_who_the_river_could_not_hold



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bonding, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 02:58:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13378683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold/pseuds/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold
Summary: It’s been over a year since Eleven transformed into El, met three boys who changed her life, and helped save Will Byers. It’s been a couple months since she closed the gate and returned to her friends and family. While some changes and tasks have come naturally as she learns to live her new life, there’s one thing she hasn’t conquered yet.When Nancy and Mrs. Wheeler realize that El is still petrified of baths (and can’t figure out how exactly they’re supposed to be relaxing), the two women take it upon themselves to help her relearn how wonderful they actually can be when you’re not trying to connect to another dimension.





	Giving New Meanings

**Author's Note:**

> I’m really not sure where this came from, but while I was visiting home for the holidays and taking advantage of finally having access to a tub again, I was hit by this idea. After all bath bombs and baths in general are life changing and it horrifies me that El would only have traumatizing experiences with them. So that was this story’s origin and it transformed into a bonding one shot as it developed!

Karen Wheeler wasn’t entirely sure if she was going to ever fully understand where this young girl came from, Mike’s new little friend.

 

Well, _friend_ seemed such a casual word to describe what the two of them had. That was another thing she wasn’t sure she’d ever understand.

 

However the change in Mike’s behavior banished all major concerns that she had about the situation. For the first time in over a year, it felt like she had her son back again. The long explanation that he and Nancy had provided still managed to seem abbreviated compared to what must have been the whole story, but she appreciated their attempt to include her in what had happened either way. Even Joyce Byers had filled in some of the gaps too, much to Karen’s surprise. Almost as surprising as watching the young girl and Joyce interact as if they had always known each other.

 

With a flurry of mentions of _The Department of Energy_ and _literally closed a gate to another dimension_ still swimming in her mind, Karen Wheeler was finally introduced to the one and only Jane “El” Hopper. 

 

Mike, suddenly no longer her awkward child, had held the girl’s hand tightly as he gestured to his mom and told her that he had given a quick breakdown to his mother and that she could be trusted now. 

 

Karen tried to not dwell on the phrase of “can be trusted now” too much. 

 

Jane (El? Karen heard her called probably about three different names) had glanced up at her shyly before reaching out with her other hand to shake Mrs. Wheeler’s. Karen had met her halfway, holding her hand for a moment as she took in the small girl in front of her. Trying to match up the stories she had been told to this petite, soft looking girl was difficult. There was such a disconnect visually. But there was something in those hazel eyes that carried something in them, something that hinted at a world of knowledge and experiences that had shaped her for good and for bad.

 

The nervous smile on Mike’s face had told Karen all she needed to know though, so after shaking hands for a second she had shaken her head and announced that it was all too formal and embraced the young girl. Startled, El had looked over at Mike who was stifling his own shock before returning the hug. Moms tend to be really good at hugs, and while Mrs. Wheeler wasn’t always the best mom, she did have a knack for some of the best hugs around. She had felt the girl relax into her arms, bringing back memories of when Nancy would willingly hug her as a young girl. 

 

Karen knew that she wasn’t going to mess this up and was determined to help keep her arms and house open for this new person in their family’s life.

 

* * *

 

February 1985 rolled around quickly that year, January passing by in a blink.

 

The Wheeler’s kitchen always felt warm inviting and today was no exception, filled with the smell of cookies in the oven and laughter from the small breakfast nook to the side. 

 

It turned out that when the entire Hawkins Laboratory is closed down due to being exposed for their crimes, people are more willing to cooperate. The year that El was expected to wait was shortened, or at least slightly adjusted. Fully living a normal life such getting to go to school with the others? That would still be a full year. However she had been granted the ability to go out and about, as long as it was minimal and she was with other people. 

 

This had come as a shock to Hopper, but he welcomed the chance to finally follow through on a promise to El. More than just halfway happy. 

 

When he had told her the good news, she had yelped and tackled him in a huge hug with a stream of endless thank you’s. And then proceeded to call her friends on her brand new Supercom. Besides being an exciting development, it also turned into a practical one. On days that Hopper knew he was going to be late from work, he could call up for someone to come get El from the cabin and she could spend the evening at someone’s place.

 

Of course, that someone was usually Mike Wheeler.

 

Which was exactly where she was this cold February afternoon, seated at the table with Nancy and giggling over a magazine while she waited for Mike to come home from the AV Club meeting. 

 

“See El? I know the women in those soap operas have long straight hair, but curly hair is totally in right now.”

 

El’s eyes tracked where Nancy’s finger was pointing, directed at a teenage model who was flashing the camera a blinding smile while she showcased an electric blue sweater. Her hair was blowing in invisible wind, but it was still massively curly and framed her face in a cloud of dark brown hair.

 

“Pretty,” El said in response, but compared to previous experiences with the word, she said it glowingly and with a light touch to her own curls that circled her head. 

 

While she wasn’t positive she always loved how she looked, something that according to Nancy was a common feeling as you grew up, she was feeling more and more confident with herself. Plus hearing Mike say it after a snowball fight when she had been sweaty and flushed and absolutely exhausted had helped cement the idea that “pretty” didn’t have to be a blonde wig and a pink dress. It was more of a feeling, she had determined.

 

Which now meant that she had started calling Mike pretty all of the time, something that made his ears go red and caused him to mumble incoherently, providing endless delight to El.

 

Mrs. Wheeler ducked out of the kitchen, unwrapping her apron from her waist.

 

“Girls I’ve put the sugar cookies in the oven. It should only be about ten minutes or so and then they’ll need to cool,” she announced. “Could you two check on them and pull them out? I’m going to go upstairs and get some relaxing in.”

 

“Sure Mom,” Nancy answered back, still flipping through the magazine.

 

El nodded to the woman she had grown to know better over the past couple months. Satisfied that the cookies wouldn’t completely burn, Mrs. Wheeler made her way back upstairs.

 

Looking at the ad next to the page Nancy was currently looking at, El took in the range of colors displayed in front of her.

 

“Do you have these?” El asked, pulling Nancy out of the interview with an up-and-coming actress named Molly Ringwald, with her finger directed to the swatch of nail polish colors.

 

“Oh, yeah my mom and I have loads of nail polish colors! Would you want me to help you paint your nails?”  


El chewed on her lip for a second as she looked at them and then turned to nod enthusiastically at Nancy.

 

Nancy returned El’s smile and nodded her head towards the stairs in the front of the house.

 

“How about you go check out the colors we’ve got and bring them down here? I’ll go check on the cookies. The polish is just in my mom’s bathroom!”

 

El pushed back out of her seat and quickly made her way up the stairs, her feet making small thumping noises on the blue carpeted stairs. She didn’t often go upstairs, she and Mike mainly hung out in the basement, but she knew her way around upstairs fairly well. She could hear Holly babbling to herself in her bed instead of napping and made her way towards Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler’s room. The door was ajar and she slowed down as she neared it, easing it further open to slip in.

 

The light is off in the bedroom and the bathroom door is cracked open, a single thread of light coming through. She can see the shadow of Mrs. Wheeler moving back and forth and hear a muted humming. There’s another noise though and even before her brain can process what it is, El feels her hand grow cold and sweaty, and for some reason her heartbeat feels like it has doubled in speed.

 

She knocks politely (as Hopper had told her to do before entering rooms) and then pushes it open. Mrs. Wheeler gives me a smile but El’s eyes get distracted from her and look just past the woman to the scene behind her.

 

Where Mrs. Wheeler had been laying out candles and a very full glass of wine, a column of water was pouring into a large porcelain tub.

 

The stream of water is suddenly all she can focus on.

 

Sounds in the room begin to feel disconnected and Mrs. Wheeler’s voice sounds garbled, like it was under water. 

 

Like when your head is completely submerged.

 

El feels her eyesight clouding over with darkness when Mrs. Wheeler lightly places her hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of visions of slipping into the Void.

 

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” Her voice is low and her brow furrowed in concern. 

 

El gulps in air, nods yes, and then bolts from the room.

 

Nail polish forgotten, she practically trips all the way down the staircase and barrels into the front entry way, her chest heaving. Sinking down to sit on the bottom step, El rests her head in her hands as she combats the flashing images of cold water surrounding her, and Barb’s lifeless body. Her chest heaves with dry sobbing and trying to control her erratic breathing.

 

“El?”

 

Her head shoots up at the sound of her name and sees Mike standing at the front door, just having walked in. It looked like he had been in the middle of shrugging off his puffy winter coat when he saw her. 

 

Her tear-stained cheeks shone in the dim light above them and he immediately dropped his backpack and ran across to her. Standing up, El allowed herself to be embraced by him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist while his arms were around her shoulders, creating a small space for her to burrow her face between his neck and shoulder.

 

They swayed gently, him occasionally tilting his head in and peppering the top of her head with soft kisses while she took deep breaths of just _him_ and allowed her body to relax.

 

Hiccuping slightly, she eventually pulls her head back and loosens her grip on him to let him know she’s feeling better. He brings one hand to her face and gently brushes the tears from her cheeks.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

 

His voice is just a whisper even though they’re alone.

 

She shakes her head and gives him a small kiss on the cheek. She knows Mike would do anything for her, but this doesn’t feel like something he can fix. So instead she grabs his hand and tugs him towards the basement.

 

“Just be together?” 

 

He can’t say no to her request so with their hands clasped, he quickly grabs his backpack and the two head down to the basement. There, El curls up on the couch next to Mike while he explains the part where he’s stuck in planning the new campaign. She sighs and nestles in closer to him, feeling him squeeze her side in acknowledgment. Mike had always promised to keep her safe, and even if he didn’t realize it, he was doing it right now. 

 

* * *

 

Mrs. Wheeler had followed El after she had run out, just a couple steps behind her as she processed the incredibly brief interaction. But when she had seen Mike and El in each others’ arms she had retreated back to the bathroom.

 

All through her bath she ran the scenario over again through her mind, trying to figure out the source of what had caused El to panic and run out like that.

 

Even the best romance novel wasn’t enough to distract her.

 

That evening while Nancy helped her fold laundry in front of their small television, Karen glanced over at Ted’s sleeping form before then turned to her eldest daughter.

 

“Nancy dear, did you notice anything strange with El tonight?”

 

Nancy pursed her lips, pausing her folding of a wash cloth. 

 

“I don’t think so? We were going to paint nails but I heard Mike come in so I assumed they were just going to hang out. Did something happen?”

 

With one more hesitant look over at Ted (who responded with a nasally snore), Karen then relayed back to Nancy what had happened earlier that evening in the bathroom. While she talked, she watched as Nancy’s eyes widened and her hands grip the towel in hand tightly, her knuckles turning white. 

 

“Oh Mom, I guess we never told you…” Nancy began when Karen finished nervously telling her story. “Last year, when Will was missing, El had to help find him.”

 

And with that Nancy began to fill her mother in with her visions that still plagued her deepest nightmares, even as rare as they were today. How they had all gathered at the middle school and prepared a small pool of water for El, simply Eleven then, to float in. The darkness that had masked the night and the crying out from El, alerting them to the confirmation of Barb’s death. The trembling ball that Eleven had curled up into afterwards after finding Will’s body nearing death as well. 

 

As Nancy spoke in a halting voice, Karen felt her heart sinking, a hand to her mouth in shock. The trauma of the situation seemed beyond comprehension and it felt like more things, even beyond El’s tub incident, made more sense. How Nancy had withdrawn so much during that year and her weekly dinners with Barb’s parents. It certainly seemed a bit of the past, the way Nancy spoke in hushed tones conveyed a silence but also resolution. Which left the unsolved issue of El and baths.

 

On a surface level, it was almost just shocking to Karen on the principle idea that baths are the most relaxing thing currently available. She wasn’t sure she would have lasted this long in her marriage if she hadn’t been able to escape to the bathroom to relax and soak away her troubles (and read about the wild romance she had once dreamt about). 

 

To not be able to have that? Terrifying.

 

It broke her heart to picture the quiet girl who often frequented her house traumatized by such an experience. And the added threat that unfortunately bathtubs weren’t exactly a rare feature to run into, and Karen couldn’t image how she would continue to get through life as she grew older without running into them. And for something that could be so small, it shouldn’t have such a giant impact on her.

 

No, no this wouldn’t do at all.

 

She was going to do something about this.

 

The next morning after washing the breakfast dishes that morning and shooing the kids out of the house to get to school, Karen made her to way to their phone and after doing a quick scan in the phonebook for the police headquarters, dialed the phone. She was greeted by the sweet woman Flo, who she occasionally ran into at the supermarket, who then transferred her call.

 

“Hello?”

 

Judging from the voice on the other line, mornings were not Chief Hopper’s best time.

 

“Jim! Hi, it’s Karen Wheeler,” she said in a chipper voice, cradling the phone between her head and her shoulder as she dried her hands off on the dishtowel.

 

There was a long pause before a grunted, “Hi Karen.”

 

“Listen, I was wondering if maybe Jane – El, could come spend tomorrow with myself and Nancy. Have a girls day.”

 

Silence answered her on the other end and if not for the static coming through the phone, Karen would have assumed he had hung up on her. 

 

“I guess I can… just drop her off at your place in the morning?” 

 

“Yes!” Karen responded, her shoulders dropping in relief. “That would be perfect. Just on your way to work if that works. And if she doesn’t eat breakfast that’s fine I can whip something up.”

 

There was a noise of agreement and she fought herself from rolling her eyes. Classic Jim Hopper hadn’t changed much since high school, that was for sure.

 

However he stayed true to his word and that Saturday morning, bright and early there was a rumbling of a car pulling up to the Wheeler household. Karen placed her coffee down and swung the front door open to reveal a straight-faced Jim Hopper and a tired, but still excited El Hopper. 

 

“Morning! Come on in, please.”

 

Hopper cleared his throat and gave El a gentle push forward. 

 

“No it’s okay, thanks Karen. I’m running later than I wanted to this morning so I’ll just be dropping her off this morning,” he explained, and Karen was actually surprised to hear a trace of an apologetic hint in his voice.

 

El stepped into the foyer and gave Mrs. Wheeler a quick hug.

 

Saying goodbye to her dad, a word she was still enjoying using, the two of them made their way into the kitchen.

 

“Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

 

* * *

 

Running down the stairs about twenty twenty minutes later, completely oblivious, Mike was wholly unprepared to run into El in their kitchen. She was leaning up against the counter, halfway through a stack of Eggos on her plate while chatting pleasantly with his mom.

 

He must have made some sort of noise of confusion because the two turned to face him, his mom with her traditionally peppy morning greeting and El with a wave and a cheek stuffed with waffles on one side.

 

“Uh, good morning,” he says, almost more like a question than a statement. “Not that I’m complaining, but why’s El here so early?”  


“El is going to have a girls day with me and Nancy,” Mrs. Wheeler explained.

 

Mike’s eyes bugged out and he quickly looked between the two.

 

“Oh! Uh really? Well I mean I can stay and work here too it’s totally fine. I mean the guys will probably distract me anyway and then you know, I can be here,” he said quickly, stumbling over his words as El gave him a tiny grin as she shoveled the remaining waffles into her mouth.

 

Mrs. Wheeler let out a _tsk_ as she waved her hands at him.

 

“You promised to meet the others at the library and you need to work on your project. Plus weren’t you listening? It’s a girls day sweetheart and I’m treating El today.”

 

“But Mom–”

 

“No ‘buts’ Michael, you and the boys had already planned this morning and that is where you will be going.”

 

Her hands on her hips meant that Karen wasn’t budging on this. Mike let out a long, exasperated sigh before shoving his backpack over his shoulders.

 

“Bye El, I’ll see you this afternoon,” he told her, leaning in and giving her a kiss on her cheek.

 

El grasped his hand briefly and gave him a reassuring smile to let him know that she was okay. He visibly relaxed and felt more at ease leaving, giving a wave to the family before grabbing his bike to take off towards the library to meet up with the guys for Mr. Clarke’s group project they had been assigned.

 

After closing the door, Mrs. Wheeler started to walk towards the stairs and gestured for El to follow her up the stairs.

 

“Come on up El, Nancy is already upstairs,” she said and El nodded, following her up.

 

She knew that she had been invited for a “girls’ day,” whatever that meant, and was currently clutching an older magazine that she and Max had been pouring over the other week. She had bookmarked a page with a model with sparkly blue nails and pretty pink makeup, similar to how Nancy had done El’s for the Snowball. She was hoping that maybe after whatever else the two older women had planned for her that she’d be able to convince Nancy to help her mimic the photo. She did feel a little bad about completely abandoning the plan to paint nails the other day.

 

As she follows Mrs. Wheeler upstairs, she realizes they’re heading towards Mike’s parents’ bedroom and she feels herself grow clammy. 

 

She trusts the two women but her hair prickles on the back of her neck as they get closer, the other day running through her mind.

 

Nancy is seated on the edge of the tub in the bathroom and she rises to give El a big hug.

 

The three then form a small triangle as the two explain their idea to El.

 

“Nancy told me about the night, the other year when you were at the school. I was really hoping that we could somehow help you through processing it, and become more comfortable with the idea of bathtubs,” Mrs. Wheeler kindly spoke.

 

“We could be with you the whole time you’re in here, it’s just that it might be hard to avoid in life and we want to be able to help you work through it,” Nancy added on.

 

“If you’re comfortable that is,” Nancy said quickly, give El’s knee a reassuring squeeze. 

 

El looked between the two women and felt a rush of warmth flow through her. Of course Joyce was always going to be her favorite new maternal figure, but Nancy was quickly becoming her older sister and she knew Mrs. Wheeler was trying her hardest. And this was something that she _wanted_ to work on. She had conquered so many fears already, she was ready to conquer this one too.

 

Taking a steadying breath, she nodded and smiled softly at them.

 

“I’d like to try,” she said determinedly.

 

With that, they began to prepare the bath. El tried to fight the jitters as Mrs. Wheeler started to fill the tub, but Nancy was able to distract her by handing her an old swimsuit of hers to wear. El slipped back into the bedroom to change and was relieved to get away from the steady sound of the water streaming into the tub. 

 

When she entered back in, tugging nervously at the yellow gingham suit, the water had been turned off and there was a slight pleasant aroma of some type of flower. Nancy had dragged up a wooden chair from the breakfast nook and there were a stack of books and magazines on it. A handful of candles were placed around the tub and Mrs. Wheeler lit them, even though they had agreed to keep the lights on so that the room wasn’t too dark. Ambience is everything.

 

Nancy grasped El’s hand and helped her step in, never releasing her grip even as El tightened hers, squeezing Nancy’s fingers as tightly as she could as she eased herself in.

 

The first step in told her that the water was nice and warm, distinctly different from the tub in the that cavernous gym a year ago. El gripped her toes on the slick base of it as she stepped both feet in. There was a moment where she froze, glancing back at Nancy and Mrs. Wheeler.

 

They smiled gently and Nancy slowly kneeled with a motion for El to mirror her. Practically holding her breath, El shut her eyes and lowered herself further down until she was seated in the water.

 

It was with a _whoosh_ of air that she released her breath finally and opened her eyes.

 

Nancy and Mrs. Wheeler were looking at her with eagerness and undeniable anxiousness. Mike’s older sister had yet to release El’s hand and she was thankful for it. 

 

A smile grows on her face, a little wobbly but there, as she realizes that she’s fully seated in the tub. She casts a look at the water around her, before looking back up.

 

“I don’t think I can put my head under,” she whispers, softly trying to keep her voice calm.

 

Mrs. Wheeler nods, “Of course dear, that’s perfectly. I can wash your hair for you.”

 

Nancy reaches down beside herself and pulls up one of the books.

 

“Mike mentioned you love reading fairy tales, I figured I could read from one of these if you’d like while you’re in there?” 

 

El feels her accelerated breathing returning to normal and she finds herself being able to calm the nerves that had been racing through her. At Mrs. Wheeler’s cue, she rotates herself around so that she’s facing away from them. She jolts slightly as the cold porcelain touches her back, even through the swimsuit, but a light pressure from Nancy’s hand brings her back though and she tries to not become too unnerved by staring at the wall.

 

Mrs. Wheeler’s hands were gentle, running through El’s curls in a delicate manner. It felt so soothing and El found herself eyes closing on their own this time, out of relaxation rather than fear this time. 

 

Nancy didn’t let go of her hand, even while Mrs. Wheeler slowly applied shampoo to El’s hair, still reading aloud from the book. The warm pressure of her hand was a comforting anchor for her and she felt herself allow her body to relax in the water.

 

She drifted her hands through the bubbles lazily as time went on, laughing as Nancy got into character and dramatically read out the lines from the story. She could suddenly so vividly see those nights Mike had once mentioned in passing, when a young Nancy had played with an even younger Mike, romping through the basement as characters on a quest. 

 

After a little while, when the water had cooled off and the bubbles had dissipated, both of them helped El out of the tub and wrapped her in fluffy towels.

 

Holly had poked her head in at one point, grabbing her own stuffed animals to play with while they were in there. Hoisting her onto her hip, Mrs. Wheeler showed El her hair dryer if she wanted to use it, as well as some rose-scented lotion to match from the bath. El fluffed her hair with the towel before testing out the hair dryer, sneakily turning it on with her mind just to see if she could (practice was paying off and all she felt was a small twitch in her nose). 

 

After, with El somewhat drowning in a large robe, the four of them took over the downstairs table to paint nails. Holly requested a bright red while El was relieved to see that Nancy had a shimmery turquoise color. Mrs. Wheeler helped pull Holly’s hair into pigtails while Nancy recreates the makeup from the Snowball, taking her time more and describing what she’s doing to El.

 

As a few droplets finished drying on her and she changed back into her dusty pink sweater and corduroy pants, El feels pride swell up in her. Hopper, _Dad_ , always mentioned the idea of a lot of life was all about taking the first step. 

 

Taking the first step to develop trust. 

 

Taking the first step when someone needed your help.

 

And today El was taking the first step to conquer one of her fears.

 

* * *

 

Mike pulled back up to the house and left his bike in the garage just a bit after noon. 

 

He can feel his stomach growling but he’s more interested in seeing if El is still there, and that she was hopefully not too overwhelmed by his mom and sister. He and the other boys had finished their project at a relatively good pace and to their surprise, Mike turned down the idea of going to Benny’s for lunch and instead had hurriedly rode his bike home.

 

As he enters the house, he can hear chatter back in the dining area. Walking around the corner, he calls out a quick hello and drops his backpack off on the kitchen counter.

 

El excitedly bounds up to him and embraces him.

 

“Hi Mike,” she says breathlessly, pulling his face down so that they can rub noses affectionately (Holly had taught her what “eskimo kisses” were around Christmas time and El had been immediately obsessed).

 

“Feel free to go hang out for a bit, I’m going to just have us do a late lunch today,” called out Mrs. Wheeler, her nose buried in her cookbook to give the two teens a moment of privacy. 

 

Mike leaned in nuzzle his face in El’s curls, fluffier than normal. As he presses a kiss to her head, he’s enveloped in a smell of roses. It’s startling and he somewhat pulls up, letting some of the strands tickle his nose as he tries to figure out where the new smell is coming from. 

 

He vaguely had forgotten about why she had at his home all day but the answer makes itself obvious when she pulls back to look up at him. Her eyes are even wider than normal with a ring of purple makeup around them that looks similar to the dance, and he sees a flash of color on her nails as she squeezes his arms.

 

“Movie time? You promised the other day,” she says teasingly, prodding him with his phrase that he’s unable to deny.

 

He sighs dramatically but agrees, and the two make their way into the basement. 

 

“So it was just a random day with my mom and sister?” Mike asks as he digs through a box of VHS tapes and El climbs onto the couch, tucking herself under her favorite quilt. 

 

“Sort of. It was also to help me with getting past the Bad Memories of the tub and those times in the tank,” El explains. “To work through that night in the school looking for Will and Barb.”

 

Mike feels the usual tightening inside of himself when this topic comes up. He tries to block that night from his mind as much as he can, the image of El disappearing from him as she sacrificed herself too hard to dwell on. Especially now that she returned to him. 

 

Once they’ve settled into the couch, the opening sequence to _Back to the Future_ beginning on the small TV screen, Mike places his hand on El’s knee.

 

“Did it help?” His question is gentle and El nods, unknowingly fluttering her eyelashes as she looks up at him and Mike feels the familiar swoop in his stomach as they gaze at each other. She’s just as beautiful as she was the night she had walked into the dance and his heart had completely stopped at the sight of her.

 

“I think so,” she says as recalls her morning. “I still felt nervous. I wouldn’t let Nancy leave the room, or your mom. But it wasn’t as scary as I thought so I suppose that was good.”

 

Mike nods, “Baby steps.”

 

“Baby steps,” repeats El, liking the phrase. That was exactly what it had felt like, baby steps. It was small, and she was too realistic to let herself be convinced it was completely over. But today had been nice overall and she was going to hold onto that.

 

The movie has begun and they’re silent for a minute, El curled up against Mike as he plays with her hair. He’s decided that he definitely likes this new rose smell on her, mixed in with the slight smokiness from the cabin. El weaves her fingers into his before looking up his face. Counting the freckles for a beat, she finally speaks up.

 

“Maybe next time you can help me,” she says innocently.

 

Mike does his best to turn his choking into a cough.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this! I slid in some mild head canons I have for Mrs. Wheeler so hopefully it all worked. I really really loved writing this even though AUs are my favorite thing to write. Also I'm very aware that working through anxiety and/or trauma is a long and uphill battle, but this is fluff and I wanted this to be a starting point for El anyway. And it's fluff y'all gotta feel as good as possible.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
